Saudi Arabia has informed Israel that it would intercept any Air Force aircraft crossing its airspace en route to Iran, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Thursday.

The explicit message was transmitted via the United States, during talks with Obama administration officials in Jerusalem.

Senior Israeli officials have claimed that the Americans are leveraging the Saudi threat in an attempt to dissuade Israel from launching a unilateral offensive on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Some sources estimate that Saudi Arabia, which is equipped with American-made fighter jets, would have allowed Israel to cross its airspace if the latter would have coordinated its military operation with the White House.

Meanwhile, The New York Times has claimed that Israel will prefer to use a direct route that passes over Jordan and Iraq. Foreign commentators have estimated that the Jordanians will turn a blind eye, yet others have said that Amman might consider the act a breach of its peace accord with Israel. Two other possible routes are over Turkey and Syria, or a longer route along the Red Sea.